Ashley Cotton currently serves as Director of Outreach & Organization at Bluum, where she supports a statewide network of nearly 40 public charter schools across Idaho, many of which serve rural, Hispanic, and military-connected communities.
Her work centers on expanding access to high-quality public education through coalition- building, policy advocacy, and deep community engagement. In this role, Ashley collaborates closely with educators, legislators, state agencies, and national partners to strengthen Idaho’s charter school ecosystem and elevate the voices of families too often excluded from education policy conversations. She is particularly committed to ensuring that transient military families have access to stable, high-performing school options that meet the unique needs of their children.
Most recently, Ashley helped lead a Spanish-language focus group for Bluum’s Here to Stay research initiative, ensuring that Hispanic parents’ lived experiences directly informed outreach strategies and policy recommendations that shape education in Idaho.
She is also working alongside Idaho lawmakers, active-duty military families, and advocacy partners to advance legislation granting charter school enrollment preference to children of active-duty service members. This effort has garnered bipartisan support and formal partnership from the U.S. Department of Defense. Her work illustrates how state-level solutions can serve as national models for education policy that prioritizes stability, equity, and family choice.
Beyond her professional role, Ashley serves as a Key Support Liaison for the 391st Fighter Generation Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, where she supports military families through deployment and reintegration. She is a member of the Junior League of Boise and a 2025 Idaho Business Review Most Accomplished 40 Under 40 awardee. Ashley holds a master’s degree in political science, speaks multiple languages, and brings a pragmatic, coalition-driven approach to advancing education policy that places students and families at the center of reform.